Maninder stars as Bengal Warriors beat Jaipur Pink Panthers to qualify for the playoffs

Bengal Warriors qualified for the vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7 playoffs after a 41-40 win over Jaipur Pink Panthers at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday. Captain Maninder Singh was the star of the show for Bengal Warriors and scored a career-best 19 raid points.

Jaipur Pink Panthers got the first point of the match and were the better team in the opening quarter of the game. Skipper Deepak Hooda, Deepak Narwal and Nilesh Salunke raided with frequent success, while Vishal was their sole Tackle Point contributor as the Season 1 champions led 10-7 after 10 minutes.

Bengal Warriors though came back strongly and tied things up at 10-10. Jaipur Pink Panthers’ defence began to find more success as the game progressed but the Season 1 champions were still all square at 13-13 in the final minute of the half. They did end the half with a successful tackle by Santhapanaselvam to take a slender 14-13 lead into the break, making it all to play for in the second period.

Bengal Warriors began the second half with a bang thanks to a four-point Super Raid by K. Prapanjan that enforced an All-Out and made it 20-14 in favour of his team. Jaipur Pink Panthers responded with positive intent and cut Bengal Warriors’ lead to two points after a Super Raid by Salunke.

However, Bengal Warriors’ skipper Maninder ensured that Jaipur Pink Panthers didn’t get too close to his team with some efficient raiding that saw them consistently ticking the scoreboard over. Salunke continued to fight for Jaipur Pink Panthers but didn’t find much support from his teammates as Bengal Warriors looked to tighten their stranglehold on the match with another All-Out that extended their advantage to eight points.

A Super Raid by Maninder moments later then pushed Bengal Warriors’ lead to double digits and silenced the home crowd further. However, Jaipur Pink Panthers rallied late on to the approval of the home faithful and inflicted an All-Out with a little over two minutes left to make it a two-point game. The closing stages of the match saw Maninder play intelligently to ensure Jaipur Pink Panthers’ late surge went in vain as Bengal Warriors picked up the win to secure playoff qualification along with Dabang Delhi K.C.

Top Performers:

Jaipur Pink Panthers –

Best Raider – Nilesh Salunke (15 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Santhapanaselvam (3 Tackle Points)

Bengal Warriors –

Best Raider – Maninder Singh (19 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Baldev Singh (3 Tackle Points)